Why blog? To keep in touch with our friends out there, some might say. But it could also be to while away lonely hours in front of their computer, they might admit. Yet, there’s another class of bloggers: old-timers who feel the compulsion to share life’s lessons with others. That’s where I fit in. Years ago in Pacific Island Monthly there was a regular column by a retired minister who had served many years in Papua-New Guinea. If anything had gone wrong there recently–and usually there was plenty–he took the liberty to point it out and suggest what could be done to correct it. Joe Murphy, the former editor of what was once Guam’s only newspaper, might do the same thing in his own tongue-in-cheek fashion. Both could be called bloggers before the invention of the term. I used to wonder how these people, both as white as I am, could get away with it. Why didn’t they let local people solve their own problems? Read More

Many years ago when I was a fresh young face in the islands, I was astonished at how seldom people disagreed with one another. Not that I grew up in a neighborhood in which people screamed and cursed at one another all day long, but there certainly were minor arguments between people that sometimes spilled over in public. Imagine my surprise when I came to Micronesia and found that no one seemed to disagree with anyone else… at least in public. Where were the arguments, the minor debates, the give-and-take needed to get to the truth of the matter? Everyone appeared willing to accept at face value whatever came out of another person’s mouth.

Thinking small! It just takes a glance through the MicSem forum thread we posted on the migrant survey to see it in action. I had asked for very basic information from any and all who live in the US or Guam now–name, city or town, email or other contact information. Dozens of posters replied… but not in the way that I had hoped.

Instead of offering their names and contact info, they offered objections. Who’s doing this survey anyway, and what’s it for? (To make MicSem rich and famous, perhaps?) How do I know that my information is safe and won’t be turned over to the government? (The knock on the door in the middle of the night could be the Homeland Security agent with papers in his hand to deport me!) I could have my identity stolen by entrusting this to an insecure URL (How much confidence would you have in a site that’s labeled “surveymonkey”?)

Any Catholic Pohnpeians out there who need spiritual assistance are urged to get in touch with Fr. Joe Cavanagh, who spent many years on the island. Fr. Cav was sent back to the US this past January and is now living at our Jesuit retirement home in New York. With him are two other Jesuits who spent long years in the islands: Fr. Jack Curran, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, and Fr. Paul Horgan, now confined to his wheelchair after a severe stroke some months ago.

Fr. Cav has already made one pastoral visit to Kansas City and is preparing for another next month. Besides doing mass in Pohnpeian, he does first communions, weddings, and all sorts of other things. He is also available for spiritual direction and retreats. His home phone number is 718-430–4995, and his cell is 718-902-8281. You can email him at joecav@mail.fm.

FSM and the Republic of the Marshalls are gearing up for a survey of migrants in the US and its territories (meaning Guam and CNMI). This is going to be important for people from FSM and RMI if they hope to retain the rights to open migration that was guaranteed in the Compact. Recently, as you know, there has been some concern in Washington about the burden that migrants from the islands have been placing on some of the states and territories–especially Guam, Hawaii and Arkansas.

First, continue to do what most migrant communities in the US seem to be doing so successfully. Develop an island community within the larger American community–not to exclude ties with other people in town but to offer support to one another. I’ve attended birthday celebrations or christening parties that bring together nearly all the islanders in a place, and there are holiday picnics with sports events that draw islanders from hundreds of miles around. Most successful communities have an authority figure of some kind to keep everyone in line and to introduce new migrant families to the community and explain what they have to do to get along in their new home.

About Francis X. Hezel, SJ

Francis X. Hezel, SJ, is a Jesuit priest who has lived and worked in Micronesia since 1963. At different times he has served as high school teacher, school administrator, pastor, and regional superior to the Jesuits of Micronesia. He spent thirty years directing the Micronesian Seminar, a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Pohnpei, Micronesia.

He has written and spoken widely about social change and its impact on island societies. He has also written several books on Micronesian history, including The First Taint of Civilization, Strangers in Their Own Land, and The New Shape of Old Island Cultures. His most recent book, Making Sense of Micronesia: The Logic of Pacific Island Culture, is available through University of Hawaii Press.